What's so special about Goldshire Inn on Moonguard?

After raid today, Roshii said to me that I had to go to Moonguard. And specifically, Goldshire Inn. He wanted me to write about it. And I said OK, and I wondered what it was all about.

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THIS POST CONTAINS ADULT CONTENT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! DO NOT CONTINUE READING AS YOU MAY BE OFFENDED

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In Vent I said OK, and off I went. Barkhoof was on Vent too and said amusedly "You're going to Moonguard?" and giggled. I was bemused. What is going on?

So I logged over to the server. It was a US RP server. And it was full.

"Don't forget, it has to be a human, Navi," said Roshii.

"You're going to Moonguard?" said Azadelta,. "Wait, I'm coming too. Oh, and you have to roleplay along, Navi."

I threw up a few random names but they were terrible. "I'm just going to use my own name." I said.

"Don't use your name!" said Aza

"I'm not using my name, no way," said Roshii.

Bizarre, I thought. But I went ahead and made a warrior female. I logged in and Roshii and Az invited me to party.

So we head off to the inn. As we approach, Az said, "Now you have to walk into the inn. We are on an RP server and we have to play along." OK, I can play along.

I walk into the inn. Wow. It's a party in here.

And um, there are lots of naked people. And this night elf here is talking to me...

Oh my. While I'm downstairs taking in the scenery, Az and Roshii said to fit in here I have to take my clothes off. I took everything off except my boots. OK, so I'm in some sort of pick up joint. I get it.
"Navi, you have to come upstairs, that's where it all is," said Roshii.
So I head upstairs. Aza is already up there. "This room is typical, look at these guys!" he says.

This druid kept sitting, standing, sitting, standing. Over and over. OHHHHHH. I see. Oh my gosh, I think they're having... sex. My goodness, even standing looking from here it looks blushworthy. I go into the next room. There is another couple on the bed, but it looks like they're just talking. And there are dead bodies all over the floor!

"What happened here?" I asked.
"Horde often come here and try to ruin the fun," said Roshii. "So they get slaughtered."
Uh-huh. OK. I wonder if Horde have their own brothel on their own side... I doubt it, if this is an RP pick-up server. Humans and night elves are probably more sexy. Maybe in Silvermoon it's different, in the low level inn on that side. Full of sexy blood elves... hmmm. Roshii was asked to dance, and so he obliged the person with a dance.

And I went into the other room. Oh my goodness. Now that really made me giggle and blush. I had to leave. I felt like a voyeur. Oh dear, I was BEING a voyeur, that was my whole purpose here.

Someone whispers me. It's the person who was dancing with Roshii.
"First time here?"
"Yes." I reply.
"I sometimes prefer the fishing cottage. There's a nice fire and beds there. And it's quieter."

I relayed this information to Aza and Roshii. "Let's go!" said Roshii. So off we went to check it out.

And it was quieter there. There was only one couple in the bedroom, and they appeared to be deep in conversation. I rapidly backed out. Leave them to their private conversation, I might spoil their mood.

Another person chatted to me."Hi, how are you?" he asked.
"I'm fine thanks," I replied. "You?"
"A lil bored," he says. "But I'm OK."
":) everyone is so friendly here," I said. "So many people chatting."
"So what brings you to town? :)" he asked.
"Curiosity." I replied
"About? Most ppl here are looking for sex lol :P"
"Really?" I said. "I thought it was just RP. Oh My."
"Why you think everyone's naked?" I could almost sense his amusement. "That's what you get with ERP."

I had to ask. "Oh, What's ERP?"
"Erotic Role Play."
Ding! The light switched on. Everyone must think I'm so stupid. /facepalm "Ohh, right."
He replied with a :P
"I had no idea!" and I really didn't. They really HAVE those kinds of WoW servers??
"Hehe, I'm shocked noone's tried anything as you're naked," he said. "I guess you're an ERP virgin :P"

I think I had seen enough. I felt like a fraud being here. I was, actually. I was a tourist. There are people here trying to get their "business" and I was here pretending I was in the business but I was really here to gawk. I felt like I was leading people astray. I put my clothes back on.

"I've seen enough." I said to Aza and Roshii. "I'm deleting this character now."
"So what did you think?" said Roshii.
"It's... different." I said. "I didn't know people did this."
"They've clamped down on it," said Aza. "I think it was really bad before in BC here, but now it's just like this."
"I can't believe you've never heard of this," said Roshii. "Everyone knows about Goldshire Inn on Moonguard."I wondered, how do people find out about these things? I can't imagine that it's written up on any popular websites anywhere. It must be one of those secret dirty things that everyone seems to know about, but nobody talks openly about. Is this what happens on every RP server? I thought about Vidyala, who played on an RP server before. I remember her talking during her Twisted Nether Blogcast interview about how friendly everyone was on RP servers, happy to help out when you needed help. Is it because all RP servers.. are like THIS? I thought RP servers were just about playing in character, like in D&D or something, and so people were nicer because they were more about playing in character, and dressing up in cool clothes and making friends.

So, I have to say this was a real eye-opener for me. I never knew this sort of thing existed, openly, like this. And I won't say that I didn't WANT to know that these things existed, because I think it's good to know, because, after all, we are adults, and we are free to do as we wish, consensually. If this is what people want to do, then by all means they can do it. I am not going to belittle them or say they're weird, because I don't think it's harmful to anyone what they're doing. The only thing that would concern anyone is if they let their young children or young teenagers play and they get accosted by people looking for online sex. But if you're here and looking for it, then you know to avoid it. Besides, young children, like my daughter, can't read so even if someone talked to her, she wouldn't know what it was about anyway.

So people say it's creepy and sleazy. Well, if I hadn't gone there, nobody would have tried to pick me up or dance with me anyway, so really, I think that it's a place where everyone goes to do this sort of thing. And if you go there, then people will THINK you are there looking for it. And you can always just avoid the place, or go to another server.

But I have to say, I don't think I will be going there again. But I didn't regret going to see it. Just another one of those secret things in World of Warcraft.

Comments

Well, in every city there is some version of a "red light district." I remember visiting Amsterdam when I was twelve and my eyes growing bigger than saucers over all the open 'sex shop' ads plastered everywhere. Do you need eye soap, Navi?

(I am laughing and laughing and laughing, by the way--you would have thought the giggles from your guildmates might have tipped you off!)

@Matty @Erinys - well I feel really foolish because I mean, you would THINK that sort of thing is around but I'd never heard of it! I mean, I am not naive normally, but hell now I am starting to think I am! I do like the "Red light district" analogy, I think I just had never thought to extrapolate it to WoW. I have no idea why I thought WoW life would be different to real life. You laughing has made me laugh about the whole thing all over again!

Navi, my very first thought upon seeing the title of this post was "Oh my."

Yah, I started my Blog while I was on an RP server. And perhaps what goes on in Goldshire is more widely known in the RP community.

But seriously, not everyone on Moonguard participates in the ERP that happens in Goldshire. And Goldshire is mostly the only place for it. I have on occasion stumbled across a couple in another spot on Wyrmrest Accord, but usually the RP is pretty "tame." There is actually a guild on Moonguard that helps new, more serious RPers start out... kind of a house-warming or a welcome wagon.

And I can tell you not once while I was on Wyrmrest was I ever approached in an inappropriate matter for RP.

@Effy - see, that's what I thought RP was all about - being friendly and nice! Of course, I just never thought about the sexual part of RP - but you can find that anywhere I suppose if you know where to look. So I don't think it has changed my opinion of someone who plays on an RP server, but I think I just woke up to the fact that there is this red light district stuff out there, when I should have known all along. I have no idea why I was wandering around with blinkers on.

This type of thing goes on in heaps of different role playing online games. You just need to get on the RP servers and ask. Someone will point you in the right direction for other like minded ppl. A friend of mine gets involved in the star trek version of Goldshire and has a lot fun doing it they say. So long as no gets hurt, it all fun.

@Ayelena - Oh don't get me wrong, I think that it's all good if that's what they want to do, consensual and stuff. I think I wrote this more to say that, I DIDN'T know it was there, when in fact, I SHOULD know because that's what happens in real life. Like, for some reason, just having that aspect of real life transfer into online life seemed to not occur to me, when it should have.

Ohh I'm so sorry to laugh at your story but this was just amazing. I think the reason I knew about Goldshire's reputation was from hearing about it on the WoW_Ladies LJ community. I uhhh, took a trip there once with some guildies when our server was down. We were immediately propositioned to meet someone at the lakehouse you mentioned. My guildies thought it would be funny to go along, but after about 2 lines of "oh yeah baby" they got weirded out and fled. It's definitely not my thing, but like you said, it's kind of pointless to make fun of people who do it. If that's how they get their jollies...so long as it's private and consensual I just don't care.

I think WoW insider had a long article not too long ago to talk about how there is a lot more than just this when it comes to RP. I have always been curious so thanks for your trip ;) now I can say I saw without actually being there. I am ok with just pictures.

My main server is Moon Guard.I find the personality of the server very comfortable, I was there the day it started, I've wandered, a lot but it's home and there has always been roleplay, even if I don't do much myself anymore. The Goldshire inn just helps it feel like a more real place with the fact there are places like that everywhere. Stormwind has more interesting things to eavesdrop on though. what you really need to experience it to it's fullest is have a roleplay add on like My Roleplay or flag RSP. *nods and cackles evilly*

It's nice to hear the less infamous side of the Moonguard story. To me it's a bit like Bangkok - people think if you're going there it's for the sex scene but really there is a whole heap of other things to do in Bangkok besides that! And people have this misconception about the whole place just because of this one well known part of it.

Haha! Navi. I think this was actually a great post, you were very open-minded and non-judgemental. I actually first played on Moon Guard, and "lived" there for about a year. In a way it's a shame that GS on MG is so famous, because a lot of folks don't really go there (none of my characters would have been caught dead there). And you're correct in that much RP has nothing to do with this at all. ERP is there, and some folks participate in that, and more power to 'em! It wasn't my cup of tea and that's fine, too. I was much more likely to meet a friend or two for a drink and RP or to have a plot ongoing in guildchat or etc. I had a lot of good, random RP when I was playing there! I actually wrote a post about this back when I was blogging at Pugging Pally, and Moon Guard was in the wow news in a bad way: http://puggingpally.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/missing-you-moon-guard/

@Vidyala - I went to read your post and it was a really good read! You see that's what I imagined RP to be like - everyone's stopping to talk in the street like it was a real thing, and meeting each other for lunch and chatting over lunch. The ERP thing was just an unexpected thing to me since it's been there for ages and I didn't know anything about it - I hate being last to know about things, if you know what I mean!

LOL wonderful post, Navi.Made me laugh a lot.It's pretty crazy what ppl can do with their... creative minds.It's not the kind of thing I enjoy doing, but it's a funny curiosity of the game.Have you ever heard about the Gay Proud Parade every year in US server Proudmoore.Deserves a look, it's pretty funny and nice. I recommend. I'm not gay, but every time I go because I love the guys' spirit. *-*

TY MonicaVirgo! yes, I heard about the parade on Proudmoore - they had a transmog competition at the end of the parade this year with the WoW factor judges. I didn't get to go because it was at an odd time for me, but I hope to one day go and see it as it is a truly great WoW community experience :) Thank you for visiting!

Well, if nothing else, your redesign brought this old post back, Navi. I can't believe I ever missed reading this. And yes, I laughed at your matter-of-fact descriptions of virtual sex and other sexual activity.

(Also, yes, I did create a toon on Moon Guard back in 2010 or 2011 just to see what the fuss was about. For some reason I guess I gave off the vibe that I was an admin or something, because nobody hit on me, even with a female toon. Which was kind of a new one for me, because I have been hit on in MMOs by people thinking that I was a woman.)

I'm impressed that you managed to not get really annoyed at your guildies, particularly since there was always the possibility that your kids would have dropped into the room while you were playing.